There were no waves, and wind was not a factor. But Mira Costa still managed to sail to an impressive performance this past weekend.
Students from Costa notched first prize in the rookie division, and 10th place overall, at the Solar Cup, an annual competition that tasks high schools from across Southern California with building and racing solar powered boats. Hosted by the Metropolitan Water District, the program gathered nearly 40 schools gathered at Lake Skinner in Riverside County, and was intended to encourage science education and environmental awareness. The Costa crew was also honored for its design, winning the “hottest boat” award.
Trevor Oystrick, who teaches environmental science at Mira Costa, said that the experience was a boon to the students that participated.
“The Solar Cup program has been amazing and has positively influences the students in many ways. Many of them plan on going into a career in engineering because of it,” Oystrick said in an email.
Oystrick was approached the previous school year by West Basin Municipal Water District, the South Bay’s water supplier, about participating in the event. Oystrick and some of his students began tinkering, but their vessel took on water, and they did not compete.
The experience was hardly wasted though. Students rededicated themselves this year, forming a Solar Club on campus to devote more time to the effort. Sponsorships from West Basin, the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation, and King Harbor Marina helped fund the effort.
Materials for the boat were standardized across the competition, and all teams had to gather in one place and assemble their models at the same time. According to senior Blake Snyder, a co-president of the club and a member of the race team, this meant that preparation and study were integral to success.
“[West Basin] gave us a raw schematic. We placed everything, figuring out where it would fit. And we had to consider how to reduce weight and boost drive,” said Snyder, who will study industrial engineering at Oakland University in Michigan next year.
The cup featured both sprint and endurance events, testing both the boat’s max speed and how many laps around the lake course it could log in a fixed time. Team member Liam DiGregorio said that it was slightly intimidating competing against teams that had raced in the Solar Cup for years.
“As a rookie team, we knew the odds were stacked against us. I am an optimistic person, but there was no way I could have predicted we would do as well as we did,” said DiGregorio, a senior planning to study biology at UC Berkeley next year.
For senior Jessica Carver, co-president of the solar club, the race was an opportunity to build upon lessons learned in Oystrick’s class. She plans to study computer science and engineering at UC Santa Cruz next year and said the race was a perfect fit to complement her passions.
“I’ve always been someone who enjoys engineering questions,” Carver said. “I’m that person who finds something broken and fixes it. Or finds something that works, takes it apart, and puts back together.”
